Clamp



@ereiiieei Nev. 25, i924.

were@ FRANK. NAN-'112;- OE WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS.

CLAMP.

'aaZZ f whom may i @neem s Bia-1iekiiowrithetf Il, FRANiQLfN-imrz; zieitlzeri offthe United Ste-tes; and wresident! 5` Lake andlbtete Ofi Iliinois; hzwey invented ce1-izmir vnew and i* usefulg Improv-erneute 11i a:

@lamp 1;'V and" de ChereeyA declare: time the fellwingie'w full, ciewr7 amilexact..dese/riptioniof the samejreference' being: heidi to the 1i accompany-ing; drfiWiiigs@ imdfte the: minier-f als of reference marleltiiereen; whiehiomi w puliti' 01"' thief specification;

This invention!relates-fteu ciu-mp 'feru re'- leznsebiy sonnes-tingeafpeii' er membereftm i geizheii and* iszespeeiaiiyf edeptedf :Een` use iu demeuntabie fremesf andi "struetures usedl theater companies: andi the: lilieamb Wifiieh4 ure daily sei; uprmid demeunefiaV It iewaii-ebjeet of 'thislinveritieirte-iprevide ze clamp time will securely hold l thepertsctof getheig and thee cau. bei quiekiy reieasedf 'fers diseerineeting f the parte: Se' their? the z1 etten cani ljewrappedv'uu ori paeied,

ibis erfurtiierrebjeet 0i:ibis@irriferrtierrtek prev-ide @unir`l al eiairrpwhieir remains fpermm nentlyfettzsehedf tc ene/oir the members; thereby: faeiiitetingftheiassembling oparts endpreventings thej leeeiofaf ciampi:

With tiieeef. andi otherff objects, i111 View,

Whieh will beeonfiey more apparent im the:

feilewliiigri description a :md i diseiesures;thisL irrventi en". cou'lprises :the nevel s struc-ture a and: combi-ne ioni of@ parte: hereiiiaftelrr d'eseribed? undimere per-ieirlm'iy point-'ed outsiamiwde- .iuediiii Hrefuppendec'l ciaiiusia y iii the zieeempenying drewiiiga@ whiehI iifM iuetrate a preferred.embediment efthisliu.; veertien; und? iirv-iuriiieii i similar reference uumeri-riere'ferie, .eimilerf ei'-uree` iuctiie diff ferent views Figure-11i ism rear elevetionaiiview of; an" end; Clamp, ceri-meeting*mpfnirnof membersf,

Figure 2,iezevieW-simi1ar toF-igurell. oi anfiutermediute-clamp@ Y Figuree is e fronteiemtienalwview ofi air intermediateiciemp:, A

Figureff-` 4E! isa zu lef# hand end:` elevational viewvefi Figure l;

Figure 5W ie= zur enlarged; sectioneli viewupori'sthefline 5--5 oiFigureni,

.iifigurei Gf isfV einilenlzbrgedz seetiemil View` {1a-lien substentmlfly upenn: the iurev (36 f Orl ifigrure 4.1 Y

AS1: shown out tire, draw-inge 4 iii; referring new: i'o ther drawings-,f wliieh illust-rate one `@mbod iirient' of 'this inventien there is l'iiiustrestedaf pair of members' l2 and 2 which may be' parte' ofk ademeuntable s eeuery frame or tHe-like and'Whieii-itfis de; eired` te releasebly joinE ory Connect* :11b an a-ngieto' emitother#$30` iiatthesame muy be reed-i131 ieasselrlbled; For thiSpurpese, there: are providedf demping elements" at; @ached te one member for reieasebiyengag- 111g the second membera Iii- -tiie presenti iii- ,st-enceihreelciempiug elements aieprevidedl The kiistfclannpirigelemeng whieh isrdesigmutedI by the reference numeral? ie pref'-V erziblyy formed' frein sheetf merel amdsel stumped er constructed' eeltovprevide wiferti; cai eeekee' for' receivingl the iriembei@ l1 te which itl` is securedA and a herizeniwi ogen fecedeoeketi forlv'leeseiy; receiving! the "1ember 2. ri the presentf'insmiee, n-.Whie rtie nieiribersfflf and# 2 are ofreeteuguler crees section; the damping member. fis` i'erniedl' re'm sheel irleta-i'lbizinkhaving-e.relatively/1' Broad; Section thetis'ls-ta-mped into ciizmiiei like-'formte'feneempass 'the siides're die memL ber l, audi hai-ving,Y en; upper 'section substen# tiaily the Width of the iront face er? the member, li thirtisfiormed et its uppert end with i e i righe augied frange the-t1 everhangs the vertieeii Socke?J section;v the herizontui soci-@zeef Being ormedi between ther nge'e 3ZL and theA laterei top portions efftiie veriieaie Seeket.;Withywiiieha itz` commuiiieaes- The' upper sections of the clamping member f3` has;iteiatelalmznrgiue slightly stumped' im Weridiy` int'ei dieY horizontal seeliej indu caitedrat 31?; se ,to eveidi my longe-liee and te'vstrjengtiierrlie xeimipf The; seeeiidf. demping; element/ which deigiiated by. the reference numeral 45` is beet? yiliueti-aied f iii r Fi gire i3 and i cemprisesaf HetA piante which: iepiifotedr by. mewnsfo :L: sind 4L? tomthe-'rerit-Uiaceof. themember 1 the member @being secured te zthe ree-rsfce. Tiiisselurnliingv element 4; is pivoted iiiter# mediate, its ende anlisis zvpertienextending; aibovefthe top eithe member l se `as :te close the apen fece 0i.y the l horizontal n socket, Liezwing; however,` Sufficient? space beweerr ite upperfnedgeralndzthesange@ to prov-ide af backing marginupleri; nhelrieirib'er-Y 2. The 105 eiimpingfieiementf/Lis provided with ai rem'- WerdlyV extending'f leteralilug;` ery Wing Wiiiehf iiermeiiy lies adjacent e iat-eral. side effthe element 3. Whenitiie `element1 4D is inl the full line positieu: shown inl Fig. 4:5 it 11-0 confines the member in the horizontal socket, but when it 1s moved or rotated into thedotted lme position it releases` said mem- `ber 2, whichmay then be readily removed.

The third element of the clamp consists of a gripping element 5 which has a Vlower channel-like sectio-n that fits over the element 3. The lateral flanges of the section, however, extend upwardly above the chan- I.V nel section in the form of parallel arms 5fL to bring the biting ends into depressions 7 formed in the bottom of the vmember 2.

. Where the clamp is used at a corner, a clip 8 may be attached to the end of the member 2 to'provide a recess therebetween for receiving the Vbiting end of the outer arm 5a. At intermediate pointsA a pair of recesses such as 7 will of course bev used as in Fig. 2. One of the lateral flanges ofV this gripping element fits over the. lug 4 on the element 4 and locks the same from movement until the gripping element is sufficiently raised to release the lug. i

'Ihe members l and 2, or either one, may be sheathed in metal bushings when the clamps are attached, if desirable, as shown in Fig. 5, and a metal plate may be attached to the under side of the member 2 when the member l consists of soft wood or material.

It will be noted that the clamp consists of one stationary element and two elements whichmay be oscillated at right angles to each other, all of which are secured to the end of one frame member. Now, in order to join the second-frame member, such as 2, it is only necessary to swing the gripping element 5 upon its pivots so that the lateral flanges of the channel section will be raised sufficiently to release the lug 4n and rotate the biting or gripping ends of the arms 5fL below the horizontal socket, as showr` in dottedlines in Fig. 4. The element4 that closes the horizontal socket may then be rotated into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, so the front face of the horizontal socket will be unobstructed. The member 2 may then be placed in the horizontal socket by a lateral movement,` and when in position, the clamping element 4 may be swung into the fullV line position shown in Then the gripping element may be swung downwardly intov operative position, the gripping ends of the arms 5 engaging the lower depressed side. of the ymember-2 and forcing the same against the flange 8a, and the lateral flange taking over the lug 4 and locking'the'element 4 from movement. The frameV or' structure can be readily disassembled by a. reverse operation, as is obvious.

It is characteristic of this invention that the clamps are permanently attached to one member and releasably engage the other member and that a structure in which they are used can be quickly assembled and disassembled without much effort or damage to the parts. It will readily be appreciated that in scenery frames for theaters and other portable structures that are designed to be assembled and disassembled, a great deal of time and effort may be saved in the use of such clamping connections.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A clamp comprising a member having an open faced socket adapted for receiving a member, a rotatable member for closing the open face of said socket, and a gripping member pivoted in overlapping relation with the first member and having gripping parts extending into said socket.

2. A clamp comprising a member having a vertical socket and a horizontal open faced socket,a rotatable member for partially closing said open faced socket, and a. swingable gripping member having biting portions extending into said open faced socket and having means for locking said rotatable member in operative position.

3. A releasable joint connection for connecting a pair of members at an angle to each other comprising an element attached to one member, and having an open faced socket for receiving the other member, a movable element pivoted to the first member and movable for closing or opening said socket, and a movable gripping element also pivoted to said first member and having parts adapted for engaging the member in the open faced socket.

4. A releasable joint connection for connecting a 'pair of members at an angle to each other comprising an element attached to one of said members, and having an open faced socket for receiving the second member, a movable element pivoted to the first member and rotatable for closing said open faced socket, and a gripping element also pivoted to the first member and having biting portions for engaging the second member, and having means for locking said movable element in operative position.

5. In a device of the class described, a clamp comprising an element adapted for attachment to a member and having an open faced socket for releasably receiving a second member, a shiftable element for closing said open faced socket for releasably confinlll) imooe 3 111g said second membelgvand a pivoted grip subscribed my 11eme in the presence of two ping element on the first member movable subscribing Witnesses. into and out off gripping engagement with the second member and adapted when in op- FRANK L. NANTZ. erative position for looking said shiftabie Witnesses; l element in operative position. M. CLIFFORD,

in testimony whereof I have hereunto E. K.H1LL. 

